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ISO Easy and Great Recipe for Hamburger Buns

August 31, 2010 - 7:48pm

GSnyde

ISO Easy and Great Recipe for Hamburger Buns

It being a holiday weekend, and hoping for decent weather (even in San Francisco), I'm considering barbecuing lamburgers. And, of course, I want to make my own buns. I'm a novice (only baked twice so far), so I want a recipe that's pretty easy. I like a bun with some substance, not so heavy-crusted as a sourdough roll, but maybe the texture of a Kaiser Roll.

I believe I served you the Double Knotted rolls Thanksgiving, 2008. Surely, you remember! As a reminder ...

These are soft-crusted rolls. The onion rolls have a crisper crust. They are made with the same dough one uses for "hard rolls," also known as vienna rolls, bulkies and kaiser rolls. The onion roll version is flatter and has the added feature of ... Right! Onions! Either the kaiser roll version or the onion roll version makes great sandwiches.

Of these three options, the onion roll would be my own first choice for a flavor bomb. As a hamburger roll, I'd go for the double knotted roll.

Now, all of these can be made by hand without a mixer, but I've never made them that way myself. I know there are bakers on TFL who have experience making enriched breads (those with milk, fat, eggs, sugar, etc.) by hand and could help you, as needed.

You've lots of good choices. Let us know what you make and how it turns out.

You seem to have some good options there. David's take on Norm's double knotted rolls looks delicious and the other links should also provide good formulae.

Another good TFL recipe for hamburger buns is available on this link (and then a link within the link). Hans Joakim is a great baker and his formulae very well balanced so this should work well for a straight dough.

I know where you are coming from on hand mixing. I also have to hand mix all my breads. However the mixing in Han's recipe is not intense so I don't think that the level of dough development would be hard to achieve by hand. In this and other recipes it could be done by spoon or hands on, or if you want a more 'dough hook' effect by Andrew Whitley's 'air kneading' technique, in which you concertina the dough between open hands, which torques it more. I use this to simulate a faster mix and also to make sure I incorporate stiff levain, when used.

David talks about managing enriched doughs by hand. In some mixer recipes for buns, for example Hans Joakim's, ingredients are added all together. However in some recipes I have followed for hand mixing such doughs, ingredients are mixed in stages. The oil or butter is reserved as the flour and other ingredients receive an initial mix, then it is mixed in as a separate ingredient. If mixing outside the bowl I return the dough to the bowl for the start of this process. The salt can also be held over for this second mix if desired.

Hi, GSnyde! Super easy to make...and I might be so humble as to add..they made it to the front page photo recipe post....'toot my own horn'....you might like to try my 'Rolls for Sandwiches' recipe HEREthe photo has lamb on the sandwich, so they wouldmake great Lamb burgers too..that's why I called it my 'Aussie Sandwich' the rolls are delicious, and easy to make..a bioche type flavor as 'Larry' says without all the butter. I'm making a batch into hot dog and burger buns for labor day.

with lot's of choices! The buns are very fun, I like potato added in them..I like potato added in a lot of doughs, it's a nice versatile enriched dough...to let your imagination run with, savory or sweet or sourdough version. I'm finally getting back into the mood to bake with the weather cooling, somewhat, I've got myself buried in dough, tonight and tomorrow....and labor day week-end...well, I think I started to early.

Thanks, David. Some time after I try the Greek Bread in the loaf, I might try it for buns.

Thanks, Sylvia. Those buns look great, and the large number of kudos on the linked thread makes it clear that they are widely adjudged to be yummy. And...maybe most importantly, I think even I can make them.

A much better choice for buns than the Greek Bread - and I don't know why I didn't immediately think of it - is the Sourdough Italian Bread, which I know you really like and intend to make.

I've never used that dough for burgers, exactly, but meatballs are close.

I believe you have the recipe but here's a link: Sourdough Italian Bread and Sandwich Rolls. Be sure to scroll through the topic. Some other baker's made this bread and got prettier results than mine, including SusanFNP's Meatball Sub, which has a link to her adaptation on her Wild Yeast Blog.

it would be nice to do both buns..a great place to start some basic shaping...I think one of the most important things is to weigh each piece, hope you have a scale..if not you can eyeball it pretty close. The main thing is to have fun, and if it tastes good who cares if it looks like a bunny! Don't forget, you May be a natural..keep your fingers crossed :)

A homebrew store is a good bet. You can substitute barley malt syrup, which lots of groceries carry, as might health food stores. You can also substitute un-refined sugar or honey, although the flavor of each is a bit different.

In this recipe, the main function of the malt is not so much to supply the enzymes (which is what "diastatic" connotes), but the sugar, which makes the crust a nicer color, feeds the yeast and makes the product sweeter.

If you every plan on making bagels, you will want malt syrup, BTW. It keeps for a long time in the fridge.

Wow, I think you did an amazing job on the batard and the buns! Congratulations, on a very successful bake!

I like my hoagie's dough, to weigh at least 5oz. too; and be at least 6" in length and sometimes I make narrower and even longer, they are fun to make, nothing beats a good hoagie roll, after baking they will weigh less. Plus you get all that good practice shaping that you can use when making large loaves.

When I saw and felt the biga yesterday morning ("biga" must be Italian for "bubble gum"), I realized I would never be able to mix it well by hand. I have no stand mixer, so I gave my KA hand mixer a pep talk, and though it struggled, it managed to blend the biga with the dry ingredients and water in about 10 minutes. I added some extra stretch and folds in the bowl before covering the dough for primary ferment.

wooden handled wire wisks. They have amazing mixing powers and keep your hands clean, they also are a breeze to clean. Mine has just about replaced my KA mixer. You might like to order one..I do have the small one and the large one. I use the large one often and only occassionally the small one. I ordered mine from http://www.breadtopia.com.

I concur with Sylvia's recommendation. I also have both sizes. I actually use the small one quite often - mostly for mixing starter feedings.

But then again, if Glenn gets really hooked, he will be converting the mud room in Fort Bragg to a baking kitchen. There's room for a good-sized spiral mixer, a steam-injected deck oven and a small loader. A retarder. A couple work tables. Tray racks.

But I will not risk marriage over a bread kitchen. We like our mudroom for mud.

As to the "heavy metal" style whisk, it's among the "essentials" I already have on order, along with a rectangular brotform, a covered glass measuring bowl, a lame, some semolina flour, and Reinhart's BBA. I bought a peel today, along with a second thermometer so I have a back-up (the batteries don't last long).

I have the next round of "essentials" in mind for a near-future order--a round brotform, a couche, high gluten flour. It will be some time (a few dozen loaves at least), before I think about a stand mixer, let alone a steam-injector oven.

I was able to purchase 3 different sizes brotformen on e-bay for half the price at other places. I ordered from this seller & if you buy more than 1, the shipping is half off. Great service & product was perfect.

David, I'm trying to get sucked into this gradually. If I decide I don't want to be a bread baker, what'll I do with all the stuff? I guess you'd take it off my hands at fire sale prices. I'll try the brotform, and probably end up buying more. On eBay (thanks for the tip, Toni).

'Course, if my bread keeps Cat (spouse) smiling as much as she was at dinner tonight over the Orientalian Salmon sandwiches (details to follow in blog), there's no turning back.

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